yet you have. a devastating fertilizer factory explosion and taxes up to fifteen people are dead and over one hundred sixty i would is the massive blast like like to do a nuclear bomb leveled buildings four blocks in every direction. in what's become a dog a week before the united states in boston images are released which could show the suspect behind the marathon bombings while an envelope lays with top secure one cent is sent to president obama. live from moscow this is our team. right this hour will bring you the latest developments in the u.s. state of texas was a mess of blah says through a fertilizer plant police say up to fifteen people have been killed in a g.'s

a hundred and sixty injured but emergency crews fear as many as seventy may have died. during the break i think we're getting here but the explosion had the force of a minor and quake and destroyed several buildings in suing blazers spread to two nearby apartment blocks and schools the fire has since been brought under control but several firefighters and a police officer feared to date officials have shut down policy applies and evacuated half the town amid concerns that another fertilizer tank at the facility could blow up because of the tragedy is not yet known police say i will begin an investigation once rescue operations are over but that so far there's no evidence of foul play r.g.s. romano is at the scene. that's right the mayor of west texas spoke to was just

a few minutes. just to confirm some of the facts of the disaster that we've seen here sixteen homes have been damaged in this explosion presumed those are the homes that are closest to the blast site we were in town just a few minutes earlier and saw that there were several other businesses which also sustained some damage to the windows which were blown out it is still a search and recovery situation we try to get as close to the site as we could police putting a radius of about a mile around the site which is still considered to be dangerous for people to approach however about half of the town of twenty six hundred people have been evacuated so far the mayor gave a dire assessment of the extent of the damage here today and even before that when he was. trying to describe the scene of the explosion he described it as a as

a nuclear blast we've seen other first responders call it you know compared to iraq and one witness who i spoke to earlier this evening said that when he showed up at the scene. row of houses that were nearest to the fertilizer plant were not even recognizable they had been leveled down to pretty much just rubble and garbage oh yeah and we had a conversation with the spokesman of the local hospital where patients are receiving treatment you mentioned the casualties i just want us to listen to what he had to say i had our facility we are one of. the trenches from the from the blast right now we have seen sixty five patients one of which is critical the majority of the ones we have seen his hands variety of broken bones head injuries and a lot of the man's hand. or some own change elation. from the from the fertilizer

plant we have had a massive. response from our medical our doctors our nurses are written for therapist and they and they have been able to treat and released most of the ones who is who have had the exposure to the to the mound yet we have had twelve admissions of the sixty five patients we've seen there have been law enforcement agencies and first responders coming from throughout the state of texas to respond to this emergency so i can tell you i was there i walked through the blast area a search some houses earlier tonight massive just like iraq just like the murray building in oklahoma city same town and exploded so you can imagine what kind of damage we're looking out there. i know there was at least seventy five to fifty fifty to seventy five houses damaged there's apartment complex that has about fifty units in it that was completely. just skeleton standing and there's

a nursing home in the area that one hundred thirty three people in the nursing home we've got them evacuated i don't know what their injuries are are there right now but all injuries have been removed from the scene and taken to local hospitals in the waco area we had numerous agencies helping us all the way from the dallas fort worth area mclennan county stone kielbasa key and all the surrounding areas so we've had a great turnout. to come out to help us get through this tragedy that we've had in this small community. the explosion at the texas fertilizer plant has highlighted shortcomings in the u.s. system of industrial risk management the fertilizer plant reported that it only held around twenty four kilograms of and hydrous ammonium far less than the twenty tons believed to have ignited and the report stated no under fire or explosive or is the worst possible scenario is invisible with was

a ten minute release of ammonia gas but without any casualties but the latest sugar hauser's around eight hundred kilometers away resulting into a rising number of injuries and deaths washington correspondent says a safety at the plant has been questioned to before. this fertilizer plant that exploded in west texas on wednesday night was fined by the environmental protection agency in two thousand and six full failing to have a risk legend plans that met federal standards so that was back in two thousand and six according to the e.p.a. a risk management plan is designed to ensure chemical accidents don't happen by having safeguards in place to prevent them according to construction permits submitted a november that year this company west fertilizer valid still need all standards expected for and i had. ammonia storage tanks and he was one of those tanks that blew up this wednesday night at the bad news is the way in the toxic chemicals that

it's spreading around the area many of those surveyed hospitalized suffered from ammonia and whole asian here's what experts say about the spread of those toxic chemicals were fertilizer as we know is extremely combustible so it's been used in bombs and so it's manufacture is extremely delicate and can easily if handled wrong or if handled and safely can lead to explosion so we have to assume at this point that it's such a chemical explosion that's happened there at the plant and when you're handling chemicals like this there is a possibility that there can be chemical contamination that could that would need to be cleaned up in the aftermath of the explosion so they'll undoubtedly be extensive monitoring of the areas around the plant in order to make sure that whatever chemicals have been spread around can be cleaned up to reduce future toxicity to the residents with the kinds of winds that blow in such big intense fires there will be airborne distribution. so there's nothing that can be done

while the event is happening what will be done is is assessment and cleanup in the aftermath currently people are being evacuated because of the dangers to for further explosions for fire to spread and also for spread around of some of the chemicals from the plant however those will almost certainly be deposited close to the plant and it will be possible to get in there make assessments and do cleanup of the area in the future so those are the primary dangers. but as a gears of a best buy from the european comedy on risk radiation risk use a chemist himself says there's no behind this blast and hundreds of monia on its own would not be able to produce the kind of devastation that we hear is occurring over there it seems much more likely to me that like the other mono nitrate plant explosions in history particularly the one in one hundred twenty one in germany and there was one also in texas in one hundred forty seven is somehow the ammonium

nitrate so the fertilizer material that was produced by this front exploded now it's quite easy to detonate ammonium nitrate in fact ammonium nitrate was used in the war as am a tall as an as a war explosive and ammonium nitrate is a constituent of many explosives now so i do it for the photo to start off with i don't i don't think that this was caused by an ammonia by iran harder simonyan ammonia tank exploding although probably that would have exploded. when the main explosion took place but of course ammonia itself is very toxic it's it's it's a respected tree irritant and it would cause lots of serious response to treat track problems but then of course it's also produced when ammonium nitrate itself is heated up so if you heat ammonia nitrate to about three hundred fifty degrees it dissociates into ammonia and nitrite acid and so these two things would be quite

toxic fumes or anybody inhaling them but i as i say i don't think that that that that i don't think that that could be the cause of the level of explosive force that we have seen here i mean something very much larger has happened here. following the explosion the have been concerns over toxic fumes are spreading across the area posing as a health risk to thousands of people we're not joined by dr rupert simon from the european chemicals agency dr the company reportedly had up to twenty tons of r. and hydro someone here on site could you tell us more about the substance and what risks it poses to substance itself. spore said to for a very. thick on this very acidic very irritant so there it was destroyed along tissues and also skin and noise now the firefighters used or did you put out the fire some reports say that this could actually have caused an

explosive chemical reaction could you comment on that is that law is that a likelihood. if water and on one your are combined for sure some. significant amount of heat will be released but that this would cause an explosion i would doubt ok if you have you've seen the video the video footage of what happened what do you think actually caused that blast. well i cannot. say what caused that blast but like to call it from france already mentioned. the fertilizer itself if you have this is an explosive event. depending on the amounts which are around that could cause a blast like that yes now the tax is commission on environmental quality actually investigated was fertilizer plant in two thousand and six over the concerns about our morning. leaking from the facility does this tragedy represent

a major regulator a failure from the environmentalists themselves and of course the plant from this i cannot say because this is not. what our expertise is in your regular story or environment in the u.s. right let's talk a little bit more about this is the somalia it doesn't pose any if there is anything in the will impose any risks and how can the the actual town prepare themselves in dealing with that those risks you mean how a person can deal with that risk yes you mentioned that there are side effects how can how how do you think the actual town will have to deal with those effects well what has happened has happened and you will have to deal with the immediate effects because that is what are more new and so immediate effects so it burns and it may

destroy tissue the moment it is released in the air it is lighter than air so it will go up in the atmosphere so it will not stay around if it gets into the water by the rain or by the firefighter water to spread if it gets to into the water and gets diluted it will be used for plants you know this is an interest in fertilizer so it just broken up very quickly. we'll leave it right there thank you very much there that is dr riverside by the scientific officer at the european chemicals agency giving us his thoughts on that that a fertilizer plant to their exploded earlier on rye the explosions the timing is reminding some people of america's most poignant human tragedies amid april has seen bomb attacks chemical plant explosions and seizures marty is shown thomas looks back on events which have caused a dark cloud over america's spring. let's look at the eerie timing of this you have

the waco siege which ended on april nineteenth seventy four people killed in a very significant very big fire reminiscent of the images that we're seeing seeing that was the culmination of a fifty day standoff between a.t.f. agents and the branch davidian david koresh he set the complex on fire killing himself and these seventy three others to end of that that was twenty years ago almost to the day one day shy of that then two years later so eighteen years ago in oklahoma city bombing the federal building the murrayfield you're building there also happened on this date and kind of eerie as well the sixty sixth anniversary exactly to the day of the texas city texas fire and explosion which killed twelve hundred people that was that a month santo chemical plant that was in a town very near to houston so very significant timing and very eerie as well when it comes to the day. right on my team have been closely

following the tragedy since the beginning lining up from my witnesses gauging reaction and pictures from. across developments minutes by minutes. before reaction. to the tragedy in a couple of minutes well you know mine plus when we come back. with toxic runs in which was sent to president obama to other officials just a month he was still reeling from the boston bombings today without my mom on that . technology innovation all the developments around russia we've. covered.

the international at the very heart of moscow.

thanks for staying with us you're watching r t the explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town of west in texas could have killed up to fifteen people and at least one hundred sixty have been injured there are fears that the number of killed it could be much higher buildings around the block area have been reduced to rubble some homes have been leveled witnesses say the explosion felt like a bomb went off it dredges did as a two point one in seismic magnitude emergency services say ammonia may have caused the explosion the town was evacuated amid fears of possible for the explosions all the talks to gad's firefighters say they have the blaze under control now many of them injured many suffered cuts and broken bones and injuries associated with flying debris. the explosion in texas came soon often to other events that have. shocked america of the boston marathon bomb blasts

and also a male poisoning scare led to the wave of the deadly poison the rice and was sent to president obama and two other officials the packages were intercepted by the authorities and a man has been arrested in mississippi in connection with the case police say the suspect is well known as a frequent lead to right to make this incident has brought i'm welcoming echoes of the post nine eleven and makes mail attacks killed several equal several government offices across the u.s. have been logged on to other suspicious packages. as the details. of what we know so far and what the f.b.i. and secret service has disclosed is that a letter addressed to president barack obama contained a substance rice and that is considered a poisonous substance that according to preliminary tests the letter that was addressed to him. was opened intercepted our interests. including that poisonous

toxin some would argue that all these increased levels of security and and encroaching on civil liberties which critics say the u.s. does has been a waste of money we should also remember that when u.s. president barack obama addressed the nation and finally called the boston marathon bombings a terrorist attack he said he doesn't know who is behind the attacks and why they would they would execute such an attack by a suspect in a perpetrator will be brought to justice what that indicates is the fact that the united states at this point can't pinpoint an enemy it's not like how it was in the aftermath of the aftermath of the september eleventh attacks there is no osama bin ladin anymore that u.s. officials point of finger at and between september eleventh and now the u.s. has waged two very long wars. so participated in our military interventions and

many experts would argue has created many many enemies all over the world so now at this point the u.s. can't pinpoint its enemy they do not know if the person or people behind the boston marathon bombings is someone that was located to masterfully is someone that's working with or of foreign organizations they do not know and i think that puts many would argue that that puts the united states at a major disadvantage. washington is not a good ready to recognize the results of venezuela's presidential election that's according to u.s. secretary of state john kerry in sunday's polls in the oil rich nation so that does a day today of charges nicolas maduro win by a razor thin majority prompting large scale rallies across the country both for and against his victory meanwhile venezuela's supreme court has ruled that there's no legal basis a full recount which was demanded by my jurors opposition rival and the u.s. the newly elected president also claimed that washington's been trying to

destabilize venezuela sociology professor dr william robinson says this is nothing new when it comes to u.s. tactics in the region. this is not a new tactic on the part of washington another type of the. not only target on the part of the new group of the venezuelan opposition and generally the far right to work in america which along through washington the idea is you having all this civilization campaigning this is simply another tactic within the campaign there's been diplomatic isolation economic sabotage our military activity the agenda in two thousand and two minutes of us financing for the internal opposition including for properties and for the organizations that he represents and so we see this very often when it's all the action which is very close and when the united states wants to get rid of a government in this case from the. government or around an election it will launch violence in trying create k. . so instability and the united states will not recognize the results and this is

the be at least of this is an incredible the focusing on the part of u.s. foreign policy because mexico just had a lecture in which there was a massive fall because mexico's a close ally of the united states because the u.s. immediately work recognizes the results of a new group of georgia's by a position because for the result has no moral authority whatsoever to talk about the going to sort of them elections in challenging times are many turn to the chad for solace and support but in britain the growing number of atheists has led to the creation of an essentially new congregation and it was religion is taken out of the equation polly boyd has spoken to some of the unbelievers about what drives them to use the house of god anyway. if you want to britain's growing number of atheists a sunday morning might present itself as an opportunity to just sleep in and relax all through all those nice sunday mass who attend well not exactly more more of london's atheists are waking up on

a sunday morning and going to church service and going. so make sure i can put in. work. for you but there's no talk of saints all sin is him cause to suit the same. posture over your shoulder cause you should see. my. ok you want the. world in living better in the sunday assembly sense of the term feature singing. you don't sing. moralistic tales told by stand up comedians i think that takes all probably takes over because it gets into our very basics of what we need as humans and being welcoming is a really big part of being alive like it's our main thing because we don't want to come to the course of history i mean. by notions that like we're forgetting sometimes to be well since its launch london as it's been clamoring to attend with

more known washable is turning up and can fit into the venue i was relieved. to see you do you assume a lot about it you may be coming to see a soul before it was too much. to apply to show. that quarter of brits now describe themselves as having no religion and that figure is going up by three courses of a million annually at the same time christianity is losing more than half a million follow as a year with trends as they are the number of atheists is set to overtake the number of chris. gens by twenty thirty congregations are getting older and older and i think we're getting now to the stage where the second generation is a people who just never been in a church more and more people are finding the church is not relevant and

particularly where we have the leaders of churches taking positions on women's rights and on on gay rights which are choke clear variance from what the majority of people in the congregation think but these modern day atheists are still seeking out some sort of spiritual solace or we were really shocked at how many people were here we weren't expecting this number of people and i think it says something about how people feel that that would be easy for you because they're looking for something i thought you know it be interesting to kind of be in a group of people. having a chat about how to live our lives which you don't kind of get except in pubs that i mean in a church prayer few years first time ago but i could not cross the cross except for their first aid cross over here that's the only one i've seen so far i think just because you don't believe in god doesn't mean that you don't want to hear really

interesting to think about improving yourself to sing with others and then to have a cup of tea with people at the end i mean this is really all the best things about church but one thing which i'm uncomfortable with which is the religion part fourteen point one million brits now describe themselves as faithless and label that these known washed up as feel comfortable celebrating. art see london. well closely watch what's happening in texas following the massive blast at the fertilizer plant there with extensive up to date coverage on it online at r.t. dot com up next though the modern day gold rush in colombia. i

reckon cardiologist dr omar al claims that the war in iraq destroyed iraq's environment even worse than dropping the bomb on hiroshima did dr. puts the data that the number of press cancer cases has grown in the country from fifteen to thirty times cases of congenital heart disease have become fifteen times more frequent case of leukemia have increased thirty fold the doctor puts the blame on the weapons used in the one thousand nine hundred one and two thousand and three invasions of iraq it which nato forces used white phosphorus depleted uranium rounds and other toxic gases and poison of substances human rights watch and the world health organization have measured radiation levels in iraq and consider many places in iraq even some very far from the fighting to be contaminated naturally radiation is not racist and foreign soldiers in iraq are not immune usa today even published research results that found that depleted uranium was indeed in the lungs

and other organs of navy vets who filed for health compensation claims yet you know saddam hussein seemed like a pretty bad guy but there are always ways to get around the confines of a dictatorship but there is no way to escape from radiation it is truly the present so for the invasions of iraq good for the iraqis well it doesn't seem to be doing too good for their physical health but that's just my opinion. download the official publication t. . choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites. if you're away from your television. with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. any time anyway.